Have you, like me, been recalling the great protest songs of the
sixties, and wondered where the new protest songs are?

Yesterday, I found out.

On Wednesday, I was at work when I got a call for a Neil Young
session the next day. Needless to say, I was excited about it - Neil
Young is one of my musical heroes. When my husband and I got to
Capitol, we found 98 other singers, a collection of L.A.'s finest.
All I knew was that we were singing on a new Neil Young record, but
when the lyrics we were supposed to sing flashed on the giant screen,
a roar went up from the choir. I'm not going to give the whole thing
away, but the first line of one of the songs was "Let's impeach the
President for lyin'!" Turns out the whole thing is a classic
beautiful protest record. The session was like being at a 12-hour
peace rally. Every time new lyrics would come up on the screen, there
were cheers, tears and applause. It was a spiritual experience. I
can't believe my good fortune at being a part of this.

It was also recorded on analog in the A room at Capitol Records,
which they're talking about selling and turning into condos. No
ProTools, no 'flying in', no Auto-Tune. Just real singing, and real
songs, from a real artist. And to hire a hundred live singers?
Incredible.

I got a chance to talk with Neil for a minute, and I told him that
every word of every song expressed what I've been screaming about
since 2000. I've never been at a recording session that was more like
being at church. Heck, I've never been to a church that was more like
a church than that session. We stood up for 12 hours (except for
lunch and dinner) and I got a massive headache by the end, but I
didn't care. It was worth the price of admission. We finished the
session by singing an a capella version of "America the Beautiful"
and there was not a dry eye in the house.

If I do nothing else for the rest of my life, I can say I was on that
record. Whether it sells or not, it's the truth, and I got to be a
part of that. What an honor; what a privilege.

Neil said it should be out in 6 to 8 weeks. I hope all of you get a
chance to hear it."

Jim Ladd (and Gary Moore) are discussing the new album. Apparently Jim and Rita Wilde (program director) got to hear the album in its entirety today in the manager's office (Elliot Roberts). He sounds stunned, in a good way. It's rock, it's in your face, it's so to the point, it's poetic. Ladd is gushing. And on that note, he said this Friday night, 10:00PM PST, he will play the whole new album in it's entirety. KLOS Exclusive.